By Marshall Weiss, The Dayton Jewish Observer In a talk at Temple Israel nearly 30 years ago, celebrated local artist Ray Must made a point that was important to him: “I am a Jew who is an artist, not a ‘Jewish artist.’ My work is directed to wider audiences and

It’s fitting that the first special exhibition in the Folger Shakespeare Library’s new Stuart and Mimi Rose Rare Book and Manuscript Exhibition Hall is drawn entirely from the Dayton couple’s own exceptional collection. After a four-year renovation, the Folger reopens Friday, June 21 with the new exhibit, Imprints in Time,

Book Review By Martin Gottlieb, Special To The Dayton Jewish Observer In mid 20th-century Chicago, there was a shoe store chain called O’Connor and Goldberg. Adult Jews thought that was so funny: an only-in-America story. Younger Jews didn’t really see anything noteworthy about the name until their elders explained. Now

By Stephen Silver, JTA When Mel Brooks was filming The Producers, he recalled an executive approaching him and saying, “The curly-haired guy—he’s funny looking. Fire him.” Brooks said he would fire the actor, but never intended to actually do it. And when The Producers came out, it became a classic

By Linda Buchwald, New York Jewish Week In the documentary Nathan-ism, Jewish artist Nathan Hilu is hardly ever without a Sharpie or crayon in his hand, drawing something from his memories. Hilu was a Lower East Side native who, as a U.S. soldier at 19, was assigned to guard Nazi

By PJ Grisar, Forward Enough time has passed, the Vatican decided in 2019, to examine the record of Pope Pius. The church unsealed papal archives long sought after by historians, and researchers have begun to paint a damning portrait. Pius XII, the head of the church through World War II,

Documentary celebrates lost world more marvelous than Mrs. Maisel ever knew By Dan Pine, J. The resorts are gone now, either demolished or rotting in the humid air of upstate New York. But for nearly a century, the Catskill Mountains served as a lush playground for America’s upwardly mobile Jews.

Dayton Contemporary Dance Company’s preprofessional ensemble, DCDC2, will perform When Dance Transcends Barriers: A Story of Jewish & African American Dance in Dayton at 3 p.m., Sunday, April 7 at Beth Jacob Congregation. The original work celebrates the legacies of DCDC founder Jeraldyne Blunden, and her longtime mentors, Dayton Ballet

The World Zionist Organization’s English language U.S. tour of Heschel’s Passover Eve will present the one-person play at 7 p.m., Tuesday, April 9 at Beth Abraham Synagogue in Oakwood. The play is set in April 1968, a few days before the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. is to join the

By Alix Wall, forward.com To some, orecchiette is just a pasta shape. To Benedetta Jasmine Guetta, it’s infuriating. “The history of orecchiette literally enrages me,” she said of the pasta whose name translates as “little ears.” Italians tell her the pasta shape comes from the Puglia region, unaware that it